EVANSVILLE, Indiana - The Little Rock Men's Basketball Team advanced to the Ohio Valley Conference Championship game with a 82-57 win over Western Illinois in the semi-finals. This is Little Rock's first trip to the OVC Championship game as the Trojans had four players in double-figures.
DeAntoni Gordon and
KK Robinson led all scorers with 16 points, while
Jordan Jefferson scored 13 points.
Jamir Chaplin recorded 11 points in the win. Robinson and Jefferson led the team in rebounds with seven.
Makhel Mitchell recorded eight points and a team-high five assists.
The Trojans (21-1) and Leathernecks (21-12) each recorded 40 rebounds in the contest. Little Rock outscored Western Illinois 54-20 in the paint and 18-8 in bench.
Both teams opened the first half with points as Crocker-Johnson scored the first for the Trojans. Western Illinois extended their lead to four with 18:03 on the clock with a three-pointer.
The score tied five times, before a layup by
Bradley Douglas from Mitchell with 9:41 remaining in the half gave Little Rock their first lead 21-19.
With 6:09 on the clock, Robinson knocked down a jumper to spark a 6-0 run to take the 31-23 advantage.
The half ended with two free throws by Robinson to extend the Little Rock lead to 40-28.
After Western Illinois opened the second half with a free throw, Robinson scored four-straight points to spark a 19-4 run with points coming from Robinson, Chaplin, and Jefferson for the 59-33 advantage with 14:55 on the clock.
The Leathernecks scored their first basket in three minutes with a three-pointer followed by two free throws, before Gordon scored back-to-back layups for the 63-36 lead with 12:38 left in the game.
The Trojans controlled the rest of the game scoring the last four points on the game and winning 822-57.
Little Rock will play in the OVC Championships Finals Saturday either against Morehead State or UT Martin. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
For the latest information on Little Rock Basketball, make sure to check out
LRTrojans.com. You can also find the team on social media at @LittleRockMBB on
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